The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1887-03-03
SOCIETY IN

SOCIETY IN WYOMING.
Mr.. Patterns Fancy Dress Ball Brought
to a sudden but Not I'M
timely End.
There are two entirely separate
grades of society in this place. divided
by a hard and fast line which is never
known to be broken, except on one &C.
c~asion, and that is at a fancy dress ball,
writes a Lander (Wyoming). CORE
spondent of The San Francisco Erant-
liner: The top society here is composed
of the following rules given in a sort of
descending scale: Cattlemen, store and
hotel keepers, the wagon builder, the:
blacksmith and the editor of The Cork-
screw, with a parasitical following in
the counter-jumpers of the stores, one;
printer of The CorkscreW, and a few
privileged grangers, whose eligibility
has been regulated by the extent Of
their income. Such is the high court of
Lander. which feels itself considerably
disgraced IN an ordinary occasion by:
being found in company with the COM
mon herd of saloon-keepers, cowboys,
half breeds, and gamblers. The COM
mon herd takes satisfaction for this in
turning in on itself and looking down
on a large contingent, which may bel
classed under the one head of ''Whisky|
Buns" and these have only the poor
consolation of looking down upon them
selves as between individual aud indi-
vidual.
Mr. Patterns assortment was very,
full and varied, as it represented the,
total wardrobe of a theatrical troupe
which had come to grief in these parts.
The spacious hall of the skating rink,
brilliantly lighted with eight coal-oil
lamps, badly trimmed; the strains of
delightful music proceeding from an &C
cordian. fiddle, and cornet, whose play
ers, even at this early stage of the pro-
ceedings, were showing signs of extreme
WEAKNESS. Then the brilliant array
of fashion footing it round on the floor,
and tantalizingly masked and dressed
in every imaginable costume which
could be rung in to serve for the occa-
sion, from the simple but tasteful red
flannel suit of underclothes to the spe-
cially-made costume representing a fe-
male jockey and resplendent in large
gold horseshoes which adorned the fair
wife of our most prominent cattleman.
In this great carnival the trespassing
of n sex on the dress of the other vas
quite admissible, and Jim Barwood. the
renowned faro-dealer, attired in all the
simple elegance of a Mother Hubbard
costume, which refused to meet at the
back by several inches and was raised
up to an almost indecent height in front
by having SO much of the length taken
up to accommodate itself to the rise
and fall of that part of his body which
obstructed his view of his feet, was
greatly admired.
At - o'clock we all proceeded, having
secured a lady apiece, to walk her out
of the hall across the street and about
three blocks down it tosupper through
snow about a foot and a half thick.
Supper over, back again to keep it up
till daylight, only that now the order
was given to unmasK for the rest of the
evening. A prominent visiting
lawyer proceeded to dance the can
car during the progress of one of the
quadrilles, and most of the quiet people
were thinking it about time to repair
to their homes, when the whole BUSH
ness was brought to a terminal; on with
q little sensation. ,.'-
About a year before this a very COM
mon thing h~appened-a gambler mur-
dered his partner. The law Immediately
seized him and as soon let him 90 again
on the production of 81, 900 bonds to
wait for his trial, get away, or please
himself entirely what he did. As his
trial was not likely to come off for a
year or two he decided to remain on
the scene, and chose this night to bring
himself once more before the notice OF
the public-interest in him having rath-
er died out. 1t was about 8 in the morn
ing when the aforesaid murderer, with
a s~ix-shooter in each hand and a string
of oaths, stepped into the middle of the
hall and said he had come to clear the
floor, as he wanted the show TO himself
for a little while. Perhaps there were
$50 people left when he appeared, and
the door was narrow, but when the noise
of the first shot, with the crash of bro
ken glass from several lamp chimneys,
fell upon the crowd, it seemed but
about the work of a couple of seconds
before he was master of the situation.
This naturally concluded the evenings
entertainment, and the ladies having
been fired into their different domiciles,
and the men sitting down to various
games Of poker, Lander society once
more settled down to its normal condi-
tion- 49, >. -.~e.